Upholstery supporting means and method of using the same



Jul 7, 1 953 s. BEYNMAX UPHOLSTERY SUPPORTING MEANS AND METHOD OF usmc THE SAME Filed Jan. 24. 1948 a pgdnh Paw symvsy BENMAX Patented July 7, 1953 ENT OFFICE 2,644,510 a UPHOLSTERY SUPPORTINGMEANS AN METHOD OF USING THE SAME Sydney Benmax, Chiswiclg'London, England Application January 24, 19 48, Serial No, 4,128 In Great Britain January 28, 1947 "'Thisinv'ention relates to the upholstering or covering'of furniture and other articles in'whi-ch upholstery and/or other covering material is attached to a supporting member.

I have previously proposed to provide a frame forJan upholstered article of furniture, for exterial of the frame integral therewith for the attachment of upholstery material thereto, wherein the teeth point-in-the direction of application of the 'saidmaterial so that the tension in the material when applied to the frame tends to pull the material on to the teeth and prevent its release. After the upholstery material has been hooked-over the teeth or the like, the latter may be pressed into or-towards the plane of the frame out of which the teeth are struck to grip the upholstery material securely.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a supporting member, for example a furniture frame member, having an improved construction of teeth, prongs or the like thereon for the attachment thereto of upholstery and/or other material.

2 Claims. (01. 155-484) It is a further object of the invention to provide a furniture frame having an improved construction of teeth, prongs or the like thereon for the attachment thereto of upholstery and/or other covering material.

Thus according to the present invention there is provided a supporting member, for example a furniture frame member, having teeth, prongs or the like thereon, characterised by the fact that the teeth are formed so as to be able to secure two pieces of covering material to the frame member when said material is applied thereto with the tension in one piece acting in the opposite direction from the tension in the other piece.

More particularly in one form of the invention some or all of the teeth may be bent acutely back intermediate the tip and root thereof.

Further according to the invention there is provided a furniture frame comprising a toothed frame member as set forth above. 1

Teeth as set forth above may be readily formed Q integral with the material of a metal frame or other metal supporting member by stamping or striking out the teeth therefrom slightly out of the plane thereof and then, in'the case of bent teeth, bending back the pointed end portions thereof at an acute angle.

Teeth thus formed serve the dual purpose of' holding two different pieces of covering material applied in opposite directions. In the case of bent teeth the tension in one material tends to draw the latter on to the base of the teeth, while the tension in the other material tends to draw said material towards the bend in the teeth. Frame members having teeth according to the present invention are particularly useful for fixing the upholstery and the under covering material to the underneath surface of the seat por= tion of a chair or settee.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from beneath of a chair with an upholstered seat according to one form of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of one of the teeth shown in Figure 1, for

holding the covering material;

Figure 3 is a side view corresponding with Fig ure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional side view corresponding the base of which includes four metal frame 7 members 12 arranged substantially in the form of a square. Each frame member l2 may be of simple U-shape, L-shape or other section providing each frame member with a flat under surface, and each of said under surfaces is formed integrally, or otherwise, with downwardly projecting teeth, prongs or the like, generally indicated at it. In the construction shown, the teeth are stamped out of the material of the'frame membereach tooth leaving an aperture I30 in the frame member. The central axes of theteeth are at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the member in which they are formed, the base of each tooth being disposed towards the outer edge of the frame member I2, and the teeth are bent sharply back at 131) as shown, out of the straight shape indicated by chain lines in Figure 3, so that the tip portions [3a of the teeth point slightly downwardly and outwardly.

A seat having the above construction of base may be upholstered and under-covered as follows. The stufiing (or seat springs, not shown) is covered with upholstery material generally indicated at I4 providing a downwardly depending skirt Ma all round the seat. This skirt is drawn tightly underneath the toothed surface of the frame members l2 forming the seat base and on to the teeth I3 so that the latter pierce the upholstery which passes round the bend I312 in the teeth and is drawn tightly outwards by its own resiliency to the root of the teeth as shown. In this way, the upholstery I4 may be secured all round the seat. 7

The undersurface of the seat base is covered with canvas or other suitable material I5 by hooking the edge portions of the latter on to the teeth 53, the tension in the material I5 in this case resiliently pulling the material I5 towards the bend I3b in the teeth and holding it securely in position so that the edges of the upholstery material M previously applied are covered. The teeth may be hammered or otherwise pressed towards or into the plane of the seat frame members I2 to complete the attachment.

Instead of providing a metal furniture or other frame with teeth as indicated above, a supporting member i6, shown in Figure 6, such as a furniture frame, may be made of wood or other non-metallic material and have secured thereto a supporting member I! provided with metal teeth as described above.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction described above.

What I claim is:

1. A. method of covering a furniture frame comprising forming a plurality of projections integrally with a metal upholstery member slightly out of the plane of the member and bending acutely back each of said projections 1 intermediate the tip and base thereof, applying two pieces of covering material in opposite directions in such a manner so that the tension in one of said pieces tends to draw the latter on the base of the projections, while the tension in the other piece of the material tends to draw said other piece towards the bend in the projections, and pressing said projections into or towards the plane of the frame after the covering material has been applied.

2. A furniture frame comprising a metal upholstery member having a plurality of projections formed integrally therewith, each of said projections being disposed slightly out of the plane of said member and being bent acutely back intermediate the tip and the base thereof to provide oppositely inclined portions between said tip and the bend and between said base and the bend so that two pieces of covering material may be applied to said projections and tensioned in opposite directions so that the tension in one of the pieces tends to draw the latter onto the bases of said projections while the tension. in the other of the pieces tends to draw that other piece toward the bends of said projections. I

SYDNEY BENMAX.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 740,022 Kelly Sept. 29, 1903 792,525 Lloyd June 13, 1905 894,020 Levick 1.. July 21, 1908 980,568 Schwartzrnan Jan. 3, 1911 1,001,981 Prince Aug. 29, 1911 1,473,098 Hollenbeck Nov. 6, 1923 2,076,619 Corduan Apr. 13, 1937 2,308,336 Mason Jan. 12, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 219,380 Australia Aug. 25, 1931 of 1930 

